Adam Shinder
October 26, 2025
A report from the state Inspector General’s office has recommended multiple reforms to help combat the threat that automated software programs pose to golfers hoping to secure reservations for tee times at the Bethpage Black golf course on Long Island.
Bethpage Black is one of America’s top-rated public golf courses, and has hosted the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Opens and the 2019 PGA Championship in addition to this past month’s Ryder Cup.
The report from IG Lucy Lang was issued Friday, coinciding with the reopening of the Bethpage Black online reservation system following its closure for the 2025 Ryder Cup, which was held at the public course in September. According to a release from Lang’s office, a review of the course’s reservation process was undertaken following a “surge” in complaints from the public and media reports that tee times at Bethpage Black “were often snapped up within seconds of release and even canceled and strategically rebooked in a suspected effort to transfer them.”
The review found that bot programs do pose a “serious threat” to the integrity of Bethpage Black’s tee time booking system, and concluded that while the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has made strides to combat the system’s manipulation, and that there was no verifiable evidence of tee times being resold, further safeguards are encouraged “to ensure a level playing field for golfers seeking to play.”
“Bethpage Black is a shared treasure — open to all by design,” Lang said in a news release. “When bots beat out real life New Yorkers for tee times, the spirit of communal access is lost, eroding public confidence in the integrity of New York’s public systems. Our office is working hard with OPRHP to guarantee that walking the grounds of one of the country’s best courses isn’t reserved for those who misuse technology to cut the line.”
While tee times at Bethpage are non-transferable, the report found that out of more than 16,000 online tee time reservations made for Bethpage Black from April through August 2024, nearly 9,500 of them — approximately 57% — were canceled.
This data could suggest that golfers in a group are each attempting to reserve a tee time with the intention of cancelling some of these times and using others,” the report states. “This process would serve to increase the group’s odds of getting any tee time at Bethpage and explain the high rate of cancellations. Alternatively, this data could suggest that some users are exploiting a loophole to evade Bethpage’s prohibition on the transfer of tee times.”
According to the report, Bethpage and OPRHP have several safeguards in place to combat the threat of bots, and are implementing others. Golfers are limited to six cancellations per month, and users who exceed the cancellation limit will have their account locked until the end of that month. Bethpage also began to stagger the re-release of canceled tee times.
Following the Ryder Cup, foreUP, the vendor which administers Bethpage’s online booking system, implemented two-factor authentication for reservations. As of May 1, Bethpage also introduced a $5 booking fee that users pay when making a reservation.
“Ensuring fair and affordable access to all New York State Parks is central to our mission,” OPRHP Acting Commissioner Kathy Moser said in a news release. “Our office worked closely with the Inspector General’s team on this matter, and we appreciate their thorough and detailed review. Our Parks team has already put in place multiple safeguards to protect the reservation system including two-factor authentication and we will continue strengthening those measures so that access to Bethpage tee times remains open, transparent, and equitable for all visitors.”
